


It Happened One Silent Night

by in_the_bottle



Category: Sports Night
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-25
Updated: 2006-03-27
Packaged: 2017-11-02 08:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_the_bottle/pseuds/in_the_bottle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Casey's stumbled into something and he has no business being there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My tired tired brain came up with this thing after seeing [this pic](http://pics.livejournal.com/in_the_bottle/pic/000kqesp) (GUH!), so I just went with it. Many thanks to Hilary for the beta!

"Casey? What are you doing here?" The expression on Dan's face was one Casey has never seen before. 'Menacing' was the word that came to mind, followed by 'dead serious'. The 'dead' part was definitely accentuated by the gun in Dan's hand, carefully not pointing at Casey. This was not Casey's best friend for almost two decades.

"Uh... Dan?"

"You're not supposed to be here." Dan lowered the gun and grabbed his cell phone from the table next to the chair he was sitting in, flipping it open in one smooth move. "Kim, you were supposed to make sure the building's secure."

_Kim's in on this?_

"Then why is Casey standing in front of me right now? Do you have any idea how important this operation is? I don't want any excuses. I'll take care of Casey, just don't screw up anymore than you already have." Dan shut the phone with a snap that made Casey flinch. Just what did Dan mean when he said 'take care of Casey' ?

"Danny, what the hell's going on? Is that a real gun?" Because, really, the idea of Danny handling anything more dangerous than a golf club would have been ridiculous, until now, that is.

"You really shouldn't be here Casey, it's too dangerous." He still looked dead serious, but 'menacing' was now replaced with 'concerned'. This was a more familiar Danny to him. "Crap." Dan swore as he looked at his watch. "No time to get you out of here."

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Casey demanded, feeling as though he had walked into an episode of 'Twilight Zone', or maybe ate some mushrooms he shouldn't have. He didn't even like mushrooms to begin with.

Dan got up from his chair and went to his backpack on their desk.

"Here," Dan shove something into his hand. "Take this." Casey looked down to see himself holding a gun. Smaller than the one Dan had, but the weight still felt heavy in his hand. "I'll explain everything later, if we get through this. Just let me do the talking and under no circumstances will you interrupt me, no matter how much you want to, can you do that for me?"

Numbly, Casey could only nod.

"And try not to look so confused."

In the silent of the night, Casey could clearly hear the 'ding' of the elevator.

"Show time."

The End... Maybe?


	2. Chapter 2

  
After two hours of answering the same set of questions over and over, Casey had had enough. If he hadn't been so completely unbalanced from the surrealness of what was going on, he would have called it quits much earlier.  
  
"And I always thought this only happened in the movies." Casey grumbled. Leaning forward, elbows resting on the table, he continued, patience waning. "I've told you, repeatedly, I just walked in, like I've done a gazillion times before tonight, through the front door. There was no circumventing of security systems, or any stealth involved whatsoever!"  
  
Kim merely raised an eyebrow at his outburst, and Dan ... he couldn't read Dan at all; the other man's normally expressive face was now the definition of stoic. It was unnerving.  
  
"Kim," Dan finally spoke after the last half hour of silent observing. "Go home."  
  
"But – "  
  
"Go home," Dan repeated. "This is <i>Casey</i> we're talking about here. I believe him."  
  
That didn't reassure Casey one bit.  
  
"Fine. It'll be on – "  
  
"My head. Yeah, I get that. Go."  
  
Kim nodded, picked up her belongings and left. If Casey had thought Dana's biker-chick outfit was hot, it was nothing compared to the skin-tight black cat burglar jumpsuit Kim had on right now, with a gun strapped around her thigh. Though Casey's first reaction at seeing her was to laugh. Until she glared at him, right hand on the butt of her gun. Then Casey was reminded that he had fallen through Alice's rabbit hole, smoked the pipe the Caterpillar had offered, and was now inhabiting an alternate reality.  
  
"You can stop trying to look at her behind now."  
  
Casey's attention snapped back to Dan, who had gotten rid of the tie and unbuttoned his collar. He looked like he always did after the show. It wasn't as comforting as Casey had thought it would be.  
  
"Danny," Casey started, then stopped, not knowing where to start. Sitting right across from him was Dan Rydell, looking like he always does, his best friend for most of his adult life, his co-anchor, co-writer, co-everything. They'd laughed together, seen each other at their best and their worst. He'd thought he knew all about Dan, and now – " _Who are you?_ " Casey finally blurted.  
  
Dan shrugged. "I'm still me, Casey."  
  
"I don't think I even know you. All these secret dealings in.... I don't even want to know what! Was it all a lie? I thought we were friends!"  
  
"We are! And I'm still me!"  
  
"How can you say that when I don't even _know_ you?"  
  
They were both yelling. Casey was feeling betrayed, and was furious at Dan. Dan was looking like someone had punched him in the gut, which only made Casey even madder.  
  
"You know what? I don't even want to hear it." Casey stood up and started putting on his jacket. "You'd probably make something up. You can go back being a criminal mastermind and I can pretend none of this ever happened, just don't expect me to trust you anymore."  
  
"I'm with the FBI." At Dan's admission, Casey's hand froze on the second button of his jacket. He wanted to pretend he hadn't heard it and walk out, but something in Dan's voice stopped him, and he stood frozen to the spot. Dan wasn't even looking at him; he was staring at the tabletop, left hand absently tracing some abstract patterns on it. "It was supposed to be a one-off thing, but somehow, I ended up getting deeper and deeper, until I couldn't find my way out." Dan let out a bitter laugh, still not looking at Casey.  
  
"It was a year or so before I met you, not long after Sam's accident. I knew my college roommate was a bit of a user, only I didn't know he was also a major dealer. One day I came back from class, and the FBI were waiting for me. Apparently they found out what happened to Sam and figured I would be eager to help them. They were right.  
  
"That summer, they put me through some training, and sent me in. I took down Richard's $3 million a year operation in three months. I did a couple more jobs for them, and they wanted me to join them after I graduated, but I had my mind set on becoming a sports journalist so I said no. They backed off, I met you and Dana, and everything was fine for awhile."  
  
"What happened?" Casey surprised even himself with the question. Dan finally looked up at him.  
  
"Few months before Dallas, I got a call from them. I wanted to say no, but it was someone I considered a friend and he needed help. Promised me that it would be the last time, and stupidly enough, I believed him. I don't know what happened, but something went wrong and people died."  
  
"And they've been holding that over your head?" Somewhere along the way, Casey had sat down in the chair next to Dan.  
  
"No," Dan let out another humourless laugh, shaking his head. "It wasn't my fault. They had pictures, and videos of me. They threatened to leak them to the press even though those were taken when I was on assignment for them. They wanted me to work for them, cracking down on drugs in the world of sports since I would have access to places they don't and no one would suspect a sports reporter. At that time, 'Lone Star' was about to take off, I couldn't risk having that kind of press, so I signed on the dotted line and sold my soul, so to speak." Dan looked at Casey then, eyes filled with a sadness that Casey had only seen on a very few occasions after a few drinks.  
  
"Danny." Casey found himself reaching out to his friend. "You could've said something." The hand that clutched at his arm was strong, it was as though Dan needed something, someone to hang on to.  
  
"They would've destroyed my life. And telling you would mean putting you in danger, I just couldn't.  I'm sorry for keeping this from you, but I just couldn't risk you, and Charlie." Dan shook his head. "Doesn't matter any more though, tonight was the last time. My contract runs out in about 5 hours, and the new FBI director happens to be taking my side, so I'm a free man." A small smile appeared on Dan's face. "And even if they decide to release those pictures, I think I've got enough of a reputation now to stand up against them."  
  
They sat in silence after that, Dan still holding on to Casey's arm.  
  
"Come on," Casey said a few minutes later. "It's late. Let's get you home, and you can tell me more about this superhero double life you've been leading."  
  
Dan let out a snort, but he followed Casey's lead and stood up.  
  
"You know," Casey said, conversationally, buttoning up his jacket. "This explains so much about you."  
  
"It does?"  
  
"Yeah, all those mood swings of yours. I always thought you had some form of male PMS."  
  
Casey ducked a playful swat at his head, relieved to see that Dan was smiling again. "I have a gun and I know how to use it."  
  
"Nah," Casey dismissed the threat. "You wouldn't know what to do with yourself without me."  
  
"Case?" Dan said while they waited for the elevator.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"You're welcome. And come to think of it, you actually looked kinda hot with that gun."  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"Most definitely." Casey replied as the elevator doors closed.  
  
The End.


End file.
